Hong Kong

Our view that the burgeoning panda bond market will continue to eat into the appeal of the more established dim sum bond market has been strengthened by the publication of new rules by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) last month that standardise the issuance procedures for the market for yuan-denominated debt issued in

2018 will be a comeback year for the Hong Kong IPO arena, which will see the exchange broaden its issuer base and diversity in the capital market. After a disaster year for the local Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) in 2017 (which saw the bourse lose its crown and slip to as low as third in the global IPO destination

I Squared's purchase of HGC is welcome, but maintaining a pure wireline strategy would not fit the highly-competitive Hong Kong market, which is increasingly geared towards advanced multi-play services. Hong Kong Broadband Network would be a suitable acquisition, as it is an established wireline player with a growing MVNO

Chinese homebuilders diversifying outside China are naturally seeking opportunities in neighbouring Hong Kong, where they can access good-quality sites and match their US dollar debt to cash flows in Hong Kong dollars, which is pegged to the US currency, Fitch Ratings says. Medium-sized Chinese homebuilders view the high